It just so happens that Ilia Topuria is a tightrope walker between the boxing and MMA realms, as any responsible champion in today’s world should be. Earlier this week, the UFC lightweight king said he would knock out Terence “Bud” Crawford on “first contact” should they ever meet in the ring.
His exact words were, “I won’t talk about what would happen between me and Crawford in an Octagon. I’ll talk about what would happen in a ring. I put him to sleep in the first contact.”
Advertisement
We’ve seen this old song and dance before. A UFC champion making flirtatious eyes at the fellows in heavier gloves, trying to drum up some interest. At this point our immune systems for this kind of behavior should’ve flushed it out, but instead it was a running headline for the next couple of days. A bit of sporting fun, is all.
Crawford, of course, responded that Topuria must’ve been in his cups. He cited the propensity for MMA fighters to imbibe willy-nilly as a probable cause for the post. Or, to use his exact words, “That dude’s drunk.”
Anyway, none of this would mean much if the timing weren’t so unique. This weekend Zuffa Boxing launches in a big way, featuring two of the biggest names going — Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and “Bud” Crawford. The MMA world, which UFC CEO Dana White created out of the Fertitta pocketbook and a strong will, can be excused for having a little FOMO.
That’s because Dad’s spending more and more time with his other family. White will be in Las Vegas come Saturday night, not in San Antonio, where Noche UFC is taking place. Both events are celebrating Mexican Independence Day, one in the epicenter of the fight world free on Netflix, the other on ESPN+ along the famous River Walk. The face of the UFC is now the face of Zuffa Boxing, which White promises will take off in an even bigger way next year when things really get going.
Advertisement
Needless to say, these are wild times.
If you went back a decade and tried to imagine a future in which White was promoting “Canelo” in the boxing world while largely leaving the UFC to do its thing on the same night, I’d have said you were as drunk as Topuria.
Then again, that’s where Turki Alalshikh and the TKO conglomerate come in. White arrived to MMA as a boxing fan, and — though he made the UFC famous by making it everything boxing wasn’t — he’s been searching for entry points back to his first love for more than a decade. Once Turki and the Saudis came in with an endless money supply, the dominoes began to fall. First things first, throw a massive event. Second thing’s second, try to get some amendments to that stubborn Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which is in place to protect boxing from the likes of … well … Dana White’s way of thinking.
Third things third, fuse UFC ideologies into the “broken” boxing model and watch the sweet science slip into something a little more comfortable. Which means, into the control room where Dana White can operate as close to business as usual as he does with the UFC. Which means, controllable belts and rankings and of course fighter pay. The “Ali Revival Act” that TKO requested is for boxing what that vampire tapping on the window in “Salem’s Lot” was for that kid in his room.
Advertisement
Once invited in, things are going to change.
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (L) faces off with Terence Crawford as Dana White looks on.
(Steve Marcus via Getty Images)
And they will change.
It starts this weekend. Last year, as the UFC introduced its first-ever real homage to Mexican Independence, it rented out the Sphere in Las Vegas for a night to throw a massive shindig. White said the UFC ponied up in the vicinity of $20 million to put on a card headlined by Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili and the loosely affiliated “Mexican” champion, “Suga” Sean O’Malley, which was part of Riyadh Season. In food terms, it was the fight game’s equivalent of a goulash.
Just down the street, at the T-Mobile Arena, “Canelo” Alvarez was doing his standing September date, defending his super middleweight title against Edgar Berlanga. They happened on the same night, and Turki’s presence was felt all over the Strip. So was the air of big fights. At the hotel, droves of people moved with “Canelo” as he made his way around. It was hard to tell who was in his entourage and who was simply being trampled by it.
Advertisement
But one thing was certain: Even with the high-priced venue and a novelty card, the UFC knew that Vegas belonged to “Canelo” on that date. All the bells and whistles the UFC had couldn’t divert the broader fight world’s attention. A few years earlier, when Nate Diaz fought Jorge Masvidal at Madison Square Garden, “Canelo” was forced to wait an hour while UFC 244 played out before fighting Sergey Kovalev.
Not in Vegas. Not during Mexican Independence Day. Not when the blockbuster of the boxing world brings half of the Mexican population to Vegas for an extended party.
A year later, “Canelo” is going in for his September tradition, this time against the weight-jumping “Bud” Crawford at the much-larger Allegiant Stadium. It’s one of the biggest fights for boxing in many years, a “once in a lifetime” event to hear White say it. Some 1,300 miles away Diego Lopes will face Jean Silva at Noche UFC, which is a fine fight. It’s not the fight though. Not on this occasion.
The fight is Canelo-Crawford. That’s the one White will be at, because this weekend cashing in on “Canelo” — and on the world of boxing as we know it — has a far better ring to it.
